Of Relations and Rocks
by Flyvarna
Summary: As if the Royal Knights weren't bad enough, the kids find themselves dealing with an arsonist.
1. Chapter 1

Of Relations and Rocks

_I do not own Digimon, the characters in it, or any other franchise I may accidentally mention. This is fan-made, and not for profit. Enjoy._

"Kouichi?"

I looked up, startled as I met my own eyes. Or rather, my twin brother's eyes. Even then, it took me a moment to realize that Kouji wasn't some kind of oddly distorted mirror. I'd only actually really gotten to know him a week ago, so it was still a little startling to know that I _had_ a brother in the first place.

"Kouichi, are you okay?" Kouji asked again. "You should watch where you were going." He pointed to the lamppost I'd just accidentally walked into. It was an accident, okay? I'd been spacing out while thinking about the situation we were in, more importantly the whole digital world was in. It's a long story...You'd probably be better off hearing it from one of the others, since I hadn't even joined the others until a week before, and I'm really not very good at talking. But if you want the short version, we were trying to stop a pair of nutcases called the Royal Knights from destroying the whole Digital World in order to bring back a bigger monster called Lucemon.

I smiled awkwardly as he reached a hand down to help me to my feet.

"I'm fine, thanks," I said softly. I don't really have a loud voice. People are constantly asking me to speak up, especially in big crowds like the one we were currently in. The trailmon terminal at Aquamarine city, one of those few cities left that the Royal Knights hadn't gotten around to scanning yet. Or at least _trying_ to scan. We'd have to worry about _that_ when they got here. Anyways, the Trailmon terminal was crowded, far too crowded for six humans, plus three child digimon, to stand out. I think it was mostly refugees from the Royal Knights' attacks, plus some digimon who were fleeing the city in hopes of finding some place where the Knights wouldn't attack them. I sighed and turned back to hear what the others were saying.

"...We need to find some way of warning the city," Takuya was saying. "The big cities are usually where they keep the Digicode, right..? They'll be here, and we'll be ready for them."

"But when are they going to be here?" Junpei asked. "We should try to evacuate the city, but that's assuming we have enough time for it."

"And that's if they believe a bunch of humans," Izumi added. "That Rosemon we met on the Trailmon kept shooting off her mouth about the Royal Knights being no match for the city's defenses."

"Look, we'll worry about _that_ when the Knights get here," Takuya snapped, irritably.

"Yeah, but what if the Knights decide they're going for this place last?" Tomoki asked. "We have to find out where they're going next."

"Any ideas, Bokomon?" Kouji asked one of our digimon companions. The little grayish-white child level responded by hauling his book out of his belt. The other two digimon, the eternally clueless Neemon and Bokomon's adopted "baby," Patamon hovered over him, literally in Patamon's case.

"According to this Aquamarine City is the biggest city in the Water region," he squeaked pompously. "It's famous for its' gems and crystals..."

"That doesn't tell us anything about the Royal Knights," Izumi pointed out. Bokomon threw down his book in frustration.

"What are you expecting, a magical map of the Digital World? I'm doing the best I can!"

"Well, maybe we should split up and ask around," Junpei said. "There's a lot of digimon here, maybe one of them knows something about 'em."

"That sounds like a good idea," Takuya remarked. "Let's get cracking."

"Right," Kouji said. "C'mon, Kouichi."

It was about this time that Bokomon suddenly realized that his book was no longer on the ground, and that Neemon was using it as a hat.

"You idiot!" He snapped. "Give me that!"

Maybe I should tell you what Aquamarine City looks like. It's a large, diamond-shaped island in the middle of a river. We didn't really need Bokomon to tell us that the place was famous for its' gems, it was right there in front of your face. There were jewels _everywhere_. Lamp posts, tables, plates, almost everywhere you could see were jewels. Some of the fancier buildings even used rubies and sapphires as shingles for their roofs. The buildings were mostly normal, though. And the sidewalks were normal concrete, at least as normal as you could get in this world. Still, I couldn't help wondering if anyone ever stole any jewels, and what would happen if they got caught? It was a good question, especially with all the refugees coming in.

I never liked crowds. Maybe it's the fact that I don't like noise too much...I don't think Kouji liked the crowd too much either. It mostly showed in how tense his shoulders were. Still, we went from digimon to digimon asking about the Knights. Most of what we got were the usual horrifying tales of friends and relatives who'd either fell to the Knights or hadn't been able to make it out when their homes were scanned. It was heartbreaking, to say the least. But beyond that, the digital refugees had no idea where the Knights had headed next.

"This is getting us nowhere," Kouji grumbled as we pulled out of the crowd and onto a neighboring sidestreet. "You'd think one of those digimon would look back to see where the Knights were going."

"I can't really blame them," I said. "I mean, if someone destroyed _your_ home, wouldn't you be more interested in looking for survivors than seeing where they went?"

Kouji scowled. "Probably. We should see if the others found anything useful."

As we turned to go, something caught my eye in the row of stores. It was a bookstore. I hadn't been near any kind of place with books in such a long time...

"Kouichi? What is it?"

"Huh?" I hadn't realized that I'd stopped walking. "Oh, sorry. It's just that I haven't been able to read a book since...Since we got here."

"You like books, big brother?"

I winced a bit at the reminder that, in terms of birth order, I was the older brother. "-Ichi" means "One," after all, and "-Ji," the way it's written in Kouji's name at least, means "Two." In a way, I still thought of myself as an only child. Then again, I'd had more time to adjust to suddenly being twins than Kouji had.

"Y-Yeah," I said. "I...Well, Mom's usually out working, and there isn't much for me to do, so I usually end up at the library. Besides, there's a lot of good fantasy books there."

Kouji cracked a grin at me. "Well, I guess we can spend a _few _minutes there before we meet the others, at least."

The bookstore was run by a slightly ruffled looking Hawkmon. He looked up as we entered and harrumphed.

"Human children. Just what I need."

I ignored him and went directly to the bookshelves. About half the books were readable, the rest of them were in that strange code that was in Bokomon's book. There was one on the shelf just above my head that caught my eye. _In Darkest night: The element of Darkness,_ huh? I grabbed it and began skimming through it. Behind me, I could hear Kouji trying to get some information out of that Hawkmon.

"Hey, you got any books on the Royal Knights?"

"Every book on the Royal Knights _and_ the war on Lucemon was bought when the Knights started scanning everything," the Hawkmon said exasperatedly. "And since they're scanning everything, there's no other cities or towns to get new books. Do you understand me?"

Kouji rolled his eyes and wandered over where I was standing.

"So much for getting information," he sighed. I poked my nose out of the book long enough to nod agreement. Kouji curiously leaned over to look at the title of the book.

"Sounds like your kind of thing," he remarked. "I wish human money worked in this world...I could've gotten it for you to make up for some of those birthdays and Christmases we missed."

"Yeah," I said with a sigh as I put the book back. "If it weren't for the Knights, I'd be looking for a library right now."

_If it weren't for the Knights_...It was such an easy thing to say. If it weren't for them, I thought, I'd be at home, trying to get used to life with a brother. Not to mention a father and stepmother...

As we turned to go, there was suddenly a earth-shaking rumble, like something nearby had exploded. _The Knights! _I thought in horror as Kouji and I exchanged a quick glance, then ran out the door.

It wasn't the Royal Knights this time. In fact it was a house a few houses down that was going up in flames. We both staggered to a stop just outside it where a crowd of onlookers was quickly gathering, but because of the raging flames nobody seemed all that eager to try and help.

"Did everyone get out safely?" Kouji asked a nearby Piccolomon.

"I don't know," it squeaked back. "But there was a Muchomon living on the top floor with her brood of Poromon. I think they might still be in there!"

"C'mon," Kouji said, grabbing my arm.

In the midst of all that chaos it was easy to slip out of the crowd and find a quieter alley to Spirit Evolve. Spirit Evolution is like...It's a little hard to describe from the inside...Well, the best description I can think of is it's a little bit like flying. Or...Actually, it's more the thrill you feel when you're on a roller coaster, going down that first big dive. One minute you're human, the next the rush kicks in and that spirit engulfs you, that part's like growing into a giant. Actually, one could say it _is_ growing into a giant. I think it might be different for the others, but for me it's kind of like soaring off into outer space. On the outside all you see is a swirl of digicode engulfing the human and the digimon comes out. Instead of Kouji and I, it was Wolfmon and Lowemon.

Anyways, once we evolved it was only a matter of jumping off a nearby tree to the house next door, then on top of the burning house. Once we were inside, we carefully began looking for any digimon who were still inside. This job was made harder by the swirling smoke that clogged the throat and blurred vision. Still, we searched through the rooms on the top floor and soon found one room which was blocked off by debris falling from the ceiling. A Muchomon huddled in the corner farthest away from the flames with about five or six Poromon squawked in surprise as Kouji-Or should I say, _Wolfmon_ kicked the debris away enough to open the door.

"It's all right," he reassured the panicked Muchomon. "We're here to get you out!"

The Muchomon gaped at him for a second or two, then nodded.

"Come on, everyone," she chirped. "Stay together."

They all followed her except for one. I think it was too scared by the flames to move.

"What are you waiting for?!" Wolfmon snapped brusquely. "Get moving!"

The Poromon flinched and dove under a nearby bed.

"Honey, you can come out," the Muchomon told it. "I think these two are Legendary Warriors. You remember, from those bedtime stories?"

There was no response. The flames were getting closer, and I had no idea how much longer this place was going to stay intact. I sighed and de-evolved back to being human.

"Kouichi, what are you _doing?"_ Wolfmon demanded.

"Well, you can't fit under the bed in that armor," I said, crawling under the bed myself. The Poromon stared at me with huge eyes as as I held out a hand to it. I've always liked birds. Not even my experience as Velgmon changed that. My grandmother, when I was really little, had a pet canary. He would sing all day, making a big noise for such a little bird. I was nine when he died. My mom had told me that if we ever moved into an apartment which allowed pets, she'd get me a canary just like him. Of course, that had been before her last job had laid her off and she'd gotten that other job...

"Hey," I told the Poromon. "Everything's gonna be okay now. I've got you."

The Poromon blinked, then took one or two hops towards my hand. Finally, after what felt like an eternity it hopped within reach. I stood up with the Poromon cradled against my chest.

"Let's get out of here," Wolfmon said, as he left the room. The Muchomon and the rest of her brood followed, and I brought up the rear, still carrying the one Poromon. As we headed down the hall, I noticed that the digimon were having a somewhat easier time getting through all the smoke than we were, because they were so small. Then I could see the light from a nearby window. Wolfmon held up his arm and blew it out with one blast from the laser on top of it.

"Everyone get ready!" He picked up the Muchomon, with one hand, and was trying to scoop up the Poromon with the other, when there was another massive rumble, this time right on top of us.

_"Kouichi!" _Wolfmon yelled. I had just enough realize that the house's ceiling was collapsing around us and to lean over the Poromon protecting it before a part of it hit me and everything went black.

**Author's Notes: First time I've tried this in a very long time...I probably should've gotten it beta read, but my computer gave me a recent scare. That, and it's better written than some stories I've read here. So the actual notes...Not much for this first part. This 'fic probably needs some more polish, even the name was kinda thrown in at the last second, because I couldn't think of anything better to call it.**

**I'm trying to stick to the Japanese version as much as possible (sorry, dubbies) but I'm also trying to keep all the Japanese terms to straight English so I won't confuse those few people who don't know what "Nii-san" means (sorry, purists) Anyways, that's all I got for now. The story's all finished, I just want to upload a chapter every day or so so you guys won't have to wait long. See ya' next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Digimon, the characters in it, or any other franchise I may accidentally mention. This is fan-made, and not for profit. Enjoy.

_I was falling again. I couldn't see, didn't _want _to see, but my stomach lurched and I could feel the wind in my hair. Unfamiliar voices whirled around me, but they all blended together. I couldn't make out what they were saying. And then..._

My head hurt. I think that was what woke me up.

I was lying in a bed somewhere. The voices in my dream-It _had_ to be a dream- had given way to more familiar ones.

_"Farfallina, Bella e bianca, vola vola..."_

Italian? Oh yeah, Izumi. She'd been to Italy before she'd started all this. And going by the other slightly less on-key voices singing along, she'd taught Tomoki, Neemon, and Patamon the words to that song. I opened my eyes, flinching slightly as the brightly lit room made my head hurt more. Kouji was staring down at me with an expression that was somewhere between absolute terror and sheer outrage.

"K-Kouji...? Where are we?" I stammered weakly. _Great_, now I was in for it.

"The Blue Gabumon Inn. The digimon who run this place were happy to give us this room, since we're Legendary Warriors. Now, would you mind telling me what the _heck_ you thought you were doing back there?" He said that last part in a tone of voice that made my head hurt worse, if that was at all possible. "You could have been killed! It's a miracle you weren't badly injured. Why didn't you Spirit Evolve after you grabbed that Poromon?"

I really didn't want to get angry, it was just that my head really hurt, and Kouji's yelling was not helping.

"I didn't think of it, _okay? _Besides, if it weren't for me going under the bed to get it, we would've been stuck in there until the ceiling fell trapping us all! How's that Poromon, anyways? Is it okay?"

He gave me _that_ look. "It's fine, and if that Poromon had listened to me in the first place, we wouldn't be in this situation. Kouichi, you almost _died_ back there. You are so lucky I was right there and..."

"I know, I _know!" _I tried keeping my voice low, but it didn't work. The singing in Italian stopped and I had the unpleasant feeling that everyone else was watching us argue. I sat up, slowly so my head wouldn't hurt quite so much. Sure enough, everyone was staring at us. Izumi, Tomoki, Patamon, Neemon and Bokomon from another nearby bed, Takuya and Junpei from a table across the room where they'd been evidently playing some card game. I cringed, both at the headache and the situation we were in and rubbed my head, feeling a bandage there.

"This isn't some video game, you know," Kouji continued.

"Kouji back off,_ please!" _I closed my eyes. "Just stop, all right? My head hurts..."

"Hey," Izumi this time. I could hear her getting up and moving over to where Kouji was sitting. "I don't think he really needs a lecture right now, just some rest. _Capito_?"

"She's right." This was Takuya. "C'mon Kouji, now that he's awake we can go find out if there's any news about the fire." Kouji's voice growled wordlessly, footsteps faded out and the door opened and closed behind them. I sighed and slumped back down. Maybe now my headache would stop. I could hear Izumi moving back to where she was before, muttering to herself in Italian.

_"Perché io sono circondato da uomini testardi?_ Ugh."

I had no idea what she was saying, but her exasperated tone made the meaning pretty clear.

"What's that mean, Izumi?" Tomoki asked, more curious than I was.

"It means, 'why am I surrounded by stubborn men.'"

"They really are stubborn, aren't they?" Junpei agreed. "Hey Tomoki, you want to take Takuya's place in this game for me? I hate leaving a game halfway done."

I managed to go back to sleep by the time the others got back. It was the sound of voices talking louder than they had been that woke me up again, I think it was a few hours later. I opened my eyes to discover that to my relief the headache had finally faded for the most part, and that Kouji was once again standing over me, this time with a tray of soup in his hands.

"Here," he said. "Soup's probably the best for you right now. If you don't feel like eating, that's fine. I'm sure one of the others will be happy to eat it."

"Thanks," I told him, sitting up again. The soup was delicious, especially since it was past dinner time and I, in spite of my headache, was starving. I quickly finished the soup.

"Arson? What's arson?" The word, spoken by Neemon, caught my ear. Suddenly I was very interested in the others' conversation.

"It means someone deliberately set that fire," Bokomon said.

"This is the fourth fire this week," Takuya continued. "Nobody's died from them so far, but a lot of digimon lost their homes. There's a major reward out for anyone that can help catch the guy who did it."

"As if the Royal Knights weren't enough," Izumi snorted. "I'd like to beat that _idiota_ up."

"You aren't going after the arsonist," Kouji's voice said from right next to my ear.

"Huh?"

"It's obvious you're going to try going after that arsonist. We have more important things to worry about than that. Let's leave it to the city's guard and concentrate on the Royal Knights."

"Kouji," I said exasperatedly. "While I _want_ to go after that arsonist, so does everyone else. Besides, I have no idea where to find him. Stop assuming I'm some kind of obsessive vigilante, okay?" I got up to my feet, only feeling a little dizziness. Instantly the others noticed and began asking about my health and if getting up was such a good idea.

"I'm fine, all right?" I sighed. Were_ all _people like this when someone was injured? Honestly, just because I got hurt didn't mean I was going to break the instant I got up. Besides, I really don't like being stuck in bed for too long. It reminded me of my grandmother, towards the end. "I'm just taking that soup bowl back."

And I slipped out the door before anyone could raise any objections. Naturally, the door opened again two seconds later and Kouji stormed out, scowling irritably.

"We're not done yet, you know," he said, following me as I went down the stairs to look for the inn's kitchen.

"What, you're still mad that I almost got_ killed_? Kouji, that was an accident. If I'd known the roof was going to collapse, I'd have Evolved. I didn't. I know better now. And my aching head knows that, too."

By this time, we were at the inn's kitchen. Kouji stood back and scowled some more as I gave my bowl to one of the Gabumon (I guessed by the number of them that most of, if not all the staff were Gabumon) who worked there, then headed back up the stairs.

"Kouichi, I know you're not stupid enough to take crazy risks like that," he continued, still following behind me. "That's Takuya's job. It's just different because you're _family_, even if I only just met you."

I turned to face him.

"Kouji..." I hesitated, not quite knowing what to say. Wasn't that always how it happened? When talking to other people, I never knew what to say. That was the reason I usually kept my mouth shut, it was the reason I didn't have too many friends and none of them were really close to me.

It was the reason I couldn't even bring up the courage to face my own _twin brother_.

"Anyways," Kouji said, glancing at the room we were in. "It sounds like Takuya and Izumi were trying that card game again...And I'd say she lost."

He was right. Even with the door closed, I could hear Izumi's voice ranting in Italian. For once, I was glad she was the only one who could understand the language, or else we'd probably have a bigger fight on our hands. My headache subtly increased again at the volume of the yelling.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "The noise can't be good for your head," Kouji told me. "Let's find someplace a bit quieter."

I hesitated for a moment. "Kouji, does this place have anywhere we can...Just...See the stars?"

Kouji stared at me for a moment, then snorted, his lips twitching upwards.

"Yeah, it makes sense for the Warrior of Darkness to like stars, doesn't it...? I think this place has a flat roof, let's see if we can hang out there."

The night sky was clear and full of stars. Of course, the rest of the day had been clear, too, but it was a slight relief to step out on the inn's roof and see all the stars out. I could feel the headache ebbing to nothing in the cooler night air as I settled down against the wall surrounding the roof. I decided I didn't need the bandages anymore and pulled them off. Kouji leaned against the wall beside me, not bothering to sit down.

"Sure is a beautiful night," he remarked. "I don't think I've ever seen this many stars at home."

"Well, it's a bit harder to see 'em at home with the city lights, but if you can get out where it's dark, like here, you can see a lot." I paused. "Cherubimon taught me a lot about the stars...Now that I think of it, I think it may have been the only thing he taught me as Duskmon. They have constellations here too, like at home."

"Really?" He genuinely sounded interested.

"Yeah, the most visible ones are based off the original legendary warriors...See, there's AncientGarurumon up there in the north, and AncientSphinxmon opposite him in the south...Supposedly they all surrounded a star called the Luce star, which was supposed to be brighter than anything else except the moons, but from what I heard the Luce star fell, or at least disappeared when Lucemon got corrupted."

"You know, Kouichi, that's the most I've ever heard you talk since we met you." I suddenly realized Kouji was right. Instantly that awkward shyness kicked in, and I fell silent.

"Isn't it funny," Kouji continued, sliding down the wall to sit beside me. "We're absolute strangers who only happen to be identical twins...We know very little about each other. I mean, I know you like books and stars, but I only just found that out today. With the Royal Knights attacking and all, we've had very little time to talk...Why don't we just talk about our hobbies and the things we like. Here, I'll go first...I like science fiction films. I've always thought that that's why Wolfmon and Magnagarurumon have those lightsaber things. _Godzilla, Star Wars, Star Trek_, I even watched that _2001_ film, although I kinda didn't get the ending."

I snorted. "_I_ tried reading the the book to see what all the hype was about. I didn't get it, either. I didn't feel like slogging through the sequel."

"So, I guess you're into sci-fi books? And fantasy, too. You mentioned that earlier."

"Yeah, I prefer fantasy. But when I get bored, I'll read _anything_. Tabloids, little kids' books, I even read some of Mom's trashy romance novels. They weren't my thing."

He actually laughed at that. "Good, nice to see _some_one in my family's got their priorities straight. If it's any consolation, Sa-Um, my mother...My _step_mother, I mean, not_ our _mother likes 'em, too. Speaking of which, D'you have a cell phone, Kouichi?"

"N-No. I never...I mean, I'm not very good at talking, and cell phones were a little bit out of our price range, so it never seemed worth it."

"Right. If we get back, remind me to give you my old cell phone. I lost it for a few months and my parents got me another one for my birthday, then we found the old one. So now I've got a spare cell phone, and you can have it. It's even got my new phone number on it, I put it there in case I lost the other one. " He paused thoughtfully. "'Course, my phone is kind of a Digivice, now...Tell you what, I've got enough saved up I can maybe buy you a disposable and just use the old one."

The truth was that all the talk about cell phones was based on the assumption that we _would_ survive all this, but Kouji seemed pretty happy talking about the future like this, so I decided to just be an optimist. I also decided to try actually ribbing him a little.

"And when we get back, maybe I can persuade Mom to take you to the barber's to get a haircut so we look like actual_ twins_. Honestly, the first time I saw you were my twin _sister_."

He glared at me. "What do you mean by _that?"_

"Huh? Kouji, it was a joke."

He glared at me some more, as I felt my face heating up,

"I-I was trying to be funny."

Kouji kept glaring at me, then he suddenly smirked.

"I know. So was I."

_"Kouji!"_

"What, you were doing it to _me_, why shouldn't I do it to you? Anyways, let's get back to the things we like. What else do you like?"

"Um...birds. I've always liked birds. I used to have a big collection of feathers I found before Mom made me throw most of them out." I shifted my gaze from the floor back to the stars. "I've always wanted to go to America and see the hummingbirds there. They look so cool in the books."

"Birds, huh? I'm more of a dog person myself. Dad got me a german shepard last year. His name's Lightning, although Dad says I should've called him 'Raijin' or 'Naru' or something instead of an English name."

"I wish I knew more English," I said slightly regretfully. "It's probably my worst class."

"Well, if we're going into things we're _not_ good at, I'm learning to play the guitar. Dad's idea, not mine. I guess he used to be really good at it and decided I should learn it too. I'm not very good at it, though. It sounds like I'm killing the guitar." There was a slight pause while I struggled to find something else to say, then Kouji sighed, then pulled himself to his feet, stretching. "It's getting late, and I think Izumi's probably shouted herself out by now...I'm ready to call it a night."

"Yeah," I said getting to my own feet. "Hey, any idea what the sleeping situation is? I only saw two beds in the room."

"They're giving us some spare cots, we won't have to worry about sharing a bed...Yet, at least. I'd have taken the floor if they hadn't. I don't know about _you_, but I'd rather not share a bed with anyone."

Now that he mentioned it, I did recall the others saying that Kouji didn't like being touched by strangers, so that would explain why he'd hate sharing a bed with anyone. To tell the truth, it was a relief. I was a little uncomfortable with the thought of sharing a bed or futon with anyone myself. Even my own brother.

"Anyways," Kouji continued as we entered the building and started back down the stairs, "Izumi's taking the other bed, but she was pretty steamed about the fact that we only had one room. So you might want to stay out of her way until tomorrow."

"That's easy enough," I said. "Wish I could say the same for _some_ of the others."

"Don't we all."

The others were already setting up cots around the room as we entered. In fact, Tomoki was curled up in one. He was still awake, but going by the fact that he was yawning every few minutes I didn't think it'd last. Patamon was curled up next to him.

"Which cot's mine?" I asked Kouji as he began unfolding a cot.

"You're getting the bed tonight. You're still injured, remember?"

"Oh." I glanced at the bed, wondering if I should protest. I'd been feeling much better after I got outside, then sighed and realized that there was probably no way the others would believe me. I pulled off my outer shirt (I have no idea what else to call it, okay?) and climbed into the bed and pulled up the blankets as Kouji set up his cot next to it. He shrugged out of the jacket and pulled off his bandana and curled up on his side facing me.

"Hey, Kouichi?"

"Hmm?"

"You...did the right thing when you saved that Poromon earlier. I just...wanted to say that, even though I got angry at you for getting hurt afterwards. I would've done it too, if I'd thought of it earlier."

"Really?"

He grinned at me. "Yeah. G'night, big brother."

And there it was again. "Big brother." Not that I was "bigger" by very much. Five minutes, at most. I'd only really known Kouji for a week, but here he was calling me that like he'd always known me. And it wasn't just here. What about earlier, just before we went to the bookstore? Or that time when I'd gotten in between him and Cherubimon, when I'd de-corrupted my spirits? I thought for a moment, then softly responded.

"Good night...Little brother."

He blinked, surprised, then grinned again. I shyly smiled back and closed my eyes.

**Author's Notes: Okay, I should bring up the fact that my Italian is mostly translated from the internet, so remember that just in case you run into any mistakes.**

_**Farfallina, Bella e bianca, vola vola...**_**"Butterfly, beautiful and white, fly and fly..." Basically it was one of the results I got when I looked up "Italian children's song." I didn't have a chance to actually hear it though.**

_**Perché io sono circondato da uomini testardi?**_** Pretty much what Izumi said it means, according to the translator at least.**

**I had a friend a long time ago who had a German shepard which looked like that, so I thought it'd be fitting for Kouji's dog to have the same name, Lightning. "Raijin" means something like "Electric person," and "Naru," if I remember correctly means "Thunder." **


	3. Chapter 3

_I do not own Digimon, the characters in it, or any other franchise I may accidentally mention. This is fan-made, and not for profit. Enjoy._

The next day started, as it always seemed to with this group, with lots of loud arguments. Naturally, I just kept out of it. I hadn't known these people for very long, and besides I'm one of those people who'd rather stay in the background and let the world go around them. What's that word? Oh yeah, "wallflower."

Anyways, it took about an hour or so for everyone to get up, and then it was time to decide how we were going to find the Royal Knights. If they came to Aquamarine City, that would require telling the city's leaders, which was going to be a major pain, considering the whole city seemed confident in its' guard force. In the end it was decided we'd just do what we did yesterday, split up into pairs and ask any of the incoming refugees if they knew where the Knights were heading next. And _that _led directly into who'd split up with who.

"I already went with you yesterday, Junpei" Izumi snapped irritably.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't do it again, Izumi." Junpei replied, awkwardly. "I mean, we had so much fun yesterday, with that phony stage magician. Remember, I kept telling you how it worked? And that lunch we had at the Gazimon's restaurant?"

"Yes, that was fun. But I want to try going with someone _else_ today. Hey, Kouichi! I'm going with _you!"_

Everyone stared at her, myself included. My shyness made me immediately freeze up.

"Why do you think he possibly wants to go with you?" Kouji demanded.

"Because I want to go with someone else today" She glared at Junpei. "And I don't want to go with the hothead" she pointed at Takuya.

"Yeah, but why_ Kouichi_?" Takuya said.

"Because I don't know him very well. And besides, every time we've split up like this, he's ended up lumped in with Kouji. You'd think they'd be getting tired of it by now."

Actually, she kind of had a point. I knew even less about her and the others than I did Kouji. Although there was one downside to going with Izumi. My shyness tended to double with girls.

"Kouichi, are you okay with this?" Kouji asked me. I paused, then nodded, mutely.

"_Commozione! Andiamo!" _Izumi squealed enthusiastically as she grabbed my hand before I could react and led me out of the room. I stumbled a bit trying to keep up with her. Where did she get all that energy?

Anyways, once we got out of the inn, the crowd of passersby was thick enough that she had to slow down, which meant that she let go of my hand. That was when Izumi started talking. I'd noticed over the past week that she wasn't the kind of person who was quiet too often, as a matter of fact she was one of those really social people that could talk your ears off if you gave her an ear to talk to. She just kept talking about the others, their life in the Digital World, and then herself.

"...And then we came back from Italy last year. Japan's so different, I'm still working on the language, that's why you hear me talking in Italian every now and then."

"Um, Izumi...?" I asked, finally trying to get a word in edgewise.

"Yeah?"

"A-aren't we supposed to be finding out where the Royal Knights are?"

She stared at me in shock. I think she'd completely forgotten about that in her eagerness to introduce herself and the others to me. Then she blurted out a loud phrase in Italian and swiftly cupped her hands to her mouth.

"You didn't hear that," she told me.

I decided that the phrase must've been a swearword. "No, I didn't."

The rest of the morning went pretty much the same way the morning before had gone. Izumi'd ask some random Digimon if they knew anything about the Royal Knights, the answer would usually be negative. I just kept quiet, and let her do the talking.

After a few hours of this Izumi declared herself famished and since it was nearing lunchtime she decided to get something to eat. Personally, I would've been happy enough to head back to the inn to eat, but Izumi squashed that thought before it was even voiced.

"Kouichi, I saw an Italian restaurant earlier. I want see if they have any_ rigatoni _there. I haven't had any since we came to the Digital World!"

There wasn't anything I could say to that. I'd never had any Italian food, and I was sure that Izumi'd be even _more _eager to make me try some if I said that. And besides, from what I'd seen of Izumi arguing with the others, usually Takuya and Junpei, it was far easier to agree with her than argue.

Renamon's _Ristorante Italiano_ was one of those really fancy places with candle-lit tables. As we entered, I suddenly realized something: I was having lunch involving a _girl_ and a fancy restaurant. Technically speaking wouldn't that be a_ date_? Oh if my mom were here she'd bust a gut laughing. Either that, or start giving highly embarrassing advice. I shuddered at that thought.

Thankfully, the restaurant did take-out orders, so we wouldn't have to actually _sit_ at the table. The Renamon at the counter passed us menus, and all we had to do was look through them, easy enough for Izumi. I on the other hand could barely read the Italian. Izumi, completely oblivious to my discomfort, was looking through her menu occasionally muttering to herself in Italian. I gulped and kept trying to read mine. If nothing else, because when I'm bored or nervous, I read _everything._

"So, what're you having, Kouichi?" Izumi suddenly asked. I peered over the top of my menu.

"Um, I'll just have the...Uh..." I looked back at the menu "la-lasaga...n..."

"It's _Lasagna_. The 'G' is silent. My neighbor used to make that. It was delicious."

I quietly buried myself back in the menu more out of shyness than anything else. Izumi added her own order to the Renamon, who disappeared in the direction of the restaurant's kitchen.

"You know, Kouichi, you don't have to just sit there and let me do everything." Izumi said suddenly. "In fact, the only reason I decided to go with you is because I was tired of Junpei trying to impress me, and didn't feel like arguing with that rockhead Takuya. And since you were the new guy...Well, I kinda wanted to get to know you better. Anyways, I can say one thing about you...You're a lot easier to get along with than Kouji is."

"Really?"

"Yup. He's that kind of guy who's about as social as a porcupine. Although he actually is a nice guy if you get past all that. He's also ticklish."

I blinked at that. Ticklish?_ Kouji? _How did Izumi know that? And did I even _want_ to know?

"Oh," was all I could think of to say.

"It wasn't _me_ doing the tickling," she said. "That was Takuya and Junpei's idea, to get him to agree with something. Although I think it was the first time I've really heard him laugh."

"Maybe I'll try that someday, if we ever get into an argument." I remarked.

"You should. Hey, I wonder if _you're_ ticklish, too?" I jumped back a foot or two at that, feeling my face turn red.

"I-I'm fine, thank you." I managed to stammer.

"I was only teasing you, Kouichi." She laughed.

A few minutes later, the Renamon arrived with our food and we went back out onto the street again, eating our food.

"Do you have any friends at home, Kouichi?" Izumi asked suddenly.

"Huh?" I was a bit taken aback by the question. "S-Some. I'm not very good at talking, so it's hard for me to get close to other people."

She swallowed another piece of...What did she call it,_ Rigatoni_? Yeah that was it. "I think, you're kind of like Kouji that way, but kind of the opposite. He tends to get prickly with people, I've noticed you tend to get more...quiet when you're around others."

"They call it introverted," I said, pulling out more of the lasagna. Maybe if Izumi saw me eating, she'd be less inclined to get personal.

"Yeah, that sounds right. When this is all over, maybe we can all hang out together more. I hate to admit it, but I'd miss being with you guys back at home. Even Takuya and Junpei. Don't tell 'em I said that, all right?"

What could I say to that? Especially with my mouth full. I nodded.

There wasn't much more to that afternoon than that. More searching for any digimon who'd seen the Royal Knights long enough to tell us where they were going. All fruitless, naturally. It was nearly sunset by the time Izumi started complaining that her feet hurt, so we headed back to the inn. Izumi opened the door to our room to release a blast of heat.

"_Caldo!" _ Izumi exclaimed. I poked my head around her to see a battered looking Takuya sitting on the bed I'd slept in last night fanning himself while drinking some water. Kouji, without his jacket, was in the process of opening the window.

"What the heck happened to _you_?" Izumi asked Takuya.

"Don't ask," he replied irritably.

Izumi was swift enough to realize that she was unlikely to get anything other than an argument out of him, so she turned to my brother. "Kouji?"

"There was another fire," Kouji told her pointedly. "Our favorite hothead decided that since he's got the _spirits_ of fire, he could absorb it all as Agnimon."

"Oh. Looks like it was too hot to handle," Izumi glanced down at Takuya.

"Well, it worked," Takuya said pointedly

"You didn't think that one through, did you?" Kouji asked him pointedly. "By the time we got there, everyone was out of the building. There wasn't much point in doing that in the first place."

"Sure there was. I didn't want that fire spreading, okay?! Besides, I wanted to save as much of that building as I could."

"There were already water digimon making sure it wouldn't spread. Besides, that building was pretty much gone." Kouji crossed his arms and glared down at Takuya as Izumi and I stepped out of the doorway.

"So what? They needed the help." Takuya slumped back onto the bed.

"Yeah, and here you are looking like you've been going ten rounds with a Togemon..." Izumi raised a hand in his direction "And giving off enough heat to make a _Meramon _hot."

"Probably a side effect of absorbing that much heat," I said. Sure enough, the closer I got to Takuya, the hotter it got.

"Why are you even _in_ here?" Izumi asked. "It's much cooler outside."

"Give me a break, Izumi. We just got back." Takuya sat back up to glare at her. Kouji snorted.

"Yeah, and I think_ I'm _going where it's cooler. Oh, Kouichi..."

He picked something up off the other bed and tossed it to me. I barely caught it in time to recognize it as the book I'd been looking at yesterday.

"What...How did you...?"

"That Muchomon from yesterday. She said she wanted to do something for you after you saved her baby, so I told her to get that for you. I'd have given it to you this morning, but Izumi was in a big hurry to get to know you."

"Well, everything moved so fast after we met him, I just wanted to actually _talk _to him for once." Izumi said.

I stared at the book, my mind reeling a bit from the shock. I was kind of used to not getting more than gratitude for being nice. Mostly because we don't have much money at home.

"You don't have to have to thank me," Kouji told me, although I noticed his customary scowl had softened a little. "The Muchomon was ready to give a lot more than one book, but I figured one would be easiest to carry."

"Yeah," I said. "Um, I think I'll go someplace a bit cooler to read this for a while."

"Speaking of 'cooler,'" Izumi said as I turned to go "You are going someplace else, Takuya. You're turning this room into a sauna!"

"What do you want me to do, jump in a lake?!" Takuya demanded. The rest of his sentence was muffled as I slipped out the door.

**Author's Notes: More Italian translations...**_**Commozione**_** means "Commotion." I guess it's something like "Cool" or "Awesome." Izumi uses it a few times in the original series. **_**Andiamo**_** means something like "Let's go!" Rigatoni's an Italian pasta, **_**Ristorante Italiano**_** is Italian restaurant, and Lasagna's another Italian food and **_**Caldo**_** means "hot." I think that's the most Italian I get into this story.**


	4. Chapter 4

_I do not own Digimon, the characters in it, or any other franchise I may accidentally mention. This is fan-made, and not for profit. Enjoy._

It wasn't too hard to find a quiet space to read. The inn's rooftop where Kouji and I had talked the night before worked just fine. I think it was an hour or two later when the door opened again and my brother walked out carrying a couple of plates of food. My stomach growled, reminding me that it was starting to get late. I'd forgotten that with the book, naturally.

"Kouichi? Thought you'd be up here." He walked over to sit beside me again. "Our room is much cooler now. Izumi 'persuaded' Takuya to take a cold shower. I think he's back to normal, or normal for _him_ at least."

I smothered a snicker at that thought.

"Anyways," Kouji continued, "Have you had dinner yet?"

I shook my head.

"Thought so." He shoved one of the plates in my direction. I put the book down with a sigh and took it. The food was delicious.

"So, Izumi said you didn't find anything on the Royal Knights..." Kouji said. I swallowed my food before replying.

"No, not much. She really likes to talk though, doesn't she? I mean, she was trying to tell me all about herself and the others..."

"Izumi just wants to make the new guy feel welcome, I think. She's always trying to reach out to everyone. Possibly because some of us aren't very good at it. She even tried to talk to _me_ before we met you."

I remembered back when I'd just met the others, just before we'd fought that Icedevimon. Izumi had encouraged me to talk to Kouji. This had been only a day or so after I'd almost killed some of her friends. That alone probably took a lot of courage, far more than I'd had at the time.

"Yeah, she seems like a nice person," I remarked. "Even if she's a little too...High-energy for me."

He snorted. "Izumi's probably too in-your-face for anyone except Takuya. He's the same type she is. Or maybe Junpei, he's the one with the crush on her."

I definitely agreed with that.

"S-So, I guess you had no luck with the Knights, either?" I asked.

"Nah. Just more aching feet. And then there was the fire towards the end." Kouji shifted his position a little. "You know, if this city's guard force was even half as good as they _say_ they are, they'd have caught this guy already."

"Maybe it's one of those inside jobs?" I suggested. "If whoever was doing this was on the guard force, it might explain why they haven't caught him yet."

Kouji looked at me, his expression turning concerned. "That actually sounds like it might be true."

"Well, it might or might not be true. We can't go making assumptions...For all I know, it's someone else."

"Yeah, I know." He paused. "Speaking of assumptions, I'm _still _not sure what I'm going to tell Dad when we get home. I mean, he lied to me about Mom being dead, he didn't even tell me I wasn't an only child...What do I say? Or should I say anything?"

"You probably need to tell him," I told him. "We've had enough secrets tearing this family apart. I don't think we need any more."

"Easy for you to say." Kouji scowled irritably at his almost-empty plate. "You probably won't be the one telling him."

"I could, if you wanted to." So what if the mere thought of talking to my father made me feel like my stomach was full of butterflies? I was the one who was first told, I was the one who actually tried reaching out to my brother, even though actually _meeting_ him had taken a lot longer than I'd planned. I was the one who had to see this through.

"Kouichi, it's not that I don't trust you to try and do it for me. It's that..." Kouji paused again, probably trying to think of the right words. "You don't know him. He doesn't know you. I'm the one who lives with him, so I'll be the one who tells him. Okay?"

I looked down at the plate in my lap. "Yeah, I can live with that. To tell you the truth, I'm kinda scared of meeting our father. I know he's probably a good guy, he has to be if he raised you...But we never spoke about him at home. I don't even know why they divorced, let alone why they never told us about each other."

"That kinda bothered me a little," Kouji said. "If we were twins, why split us up and never tell us?"

"I was kinda wondering that, too," I told him softly. "I...did some research into child custody laws after I found out. Most of the stuff they said went went right over my head, but from what I could get, there's a whole bunch of reasons for them to split us up. I think most likely scenario might have been either keep us both with one parent or the other or split us up...Mom wouldn't have been able to take care of both of us with how much she gets paid, she has enough trouble with only me. And while D-Dad might have been able to take care of both of us..."

"...That would've left Mom without either of us," Kouji finished. "Yeah, I can see that happening. Although I wish they hadn't lied to us. I wonder how much Dad told Satomi?"

"Who?"

"Oh, sorry. My...Technically she's _Our_ stepmother. She's a nice person. The problem is that Dad's always trying to get me to call her 'Mom,' when she isn't. It's funny, back when you were Duskmon and we were fighting, all I could think of was that I never got her those flowers for their anniversary."

I blinked, then belatedly remembered that the day we had all come here was Kouji's father and stepmother's anniversary.

"But I think that might've been part of what got me through that fight," my brother continued. "When I get back, I'm going to start doing what I should've done a long time ago and treating her like my mother. She'd like you too, Kouichi."

"Really?" I asked.

"Well, of course. She's a great person, I just never saw it until I got here."

There was a slightly awkward silence as we finished our food. Just as I was swallowing the last of it, a loud siren started up. We exchanged a glance, then both scrambled to our feet, the remains of dinner quickly forgotten. There was a moment of silence following the siren, then a disembodied voice echoed around the city.

_"The Aquamarine City's ruling council has decreed an emergency. The Royal Knights have been spotted in the Ripple region, and we are taking every precaution in the event that they come here next. All digimon not in the guard force are hereby ordered to evacuate the city. Please proceed in an orderly fashion to the nearest Trailmon terminal. Do not stop to gather any possessions. Above all, do not panic. All off-duty Digimon in the city's guard force are required to report to the center of operations. Thank you for your cooperation."_

By this time, Kouji and I were pounding down the stairs in search of the others. I kept my hand on the rail, remembering the last time I'd run down stairs like this. We found the others in the inn's common room.

"How long do we have?" Kouji asked.

"According to the city's guards, about a day," Junpei told him. "I guess the digimon in Ripple figured out they could delay them by doing something to camouflage the area's digicode. Too bad they can't do the same here."

"We can't do anything about that," Kouji said. "We need some kind of plan to beat these guys."

"Yeah, preferably one that doesn't involve us all getting beaten up again," Takuya remarked. "Okay, what do we know about the location of the city's digicode?"

We all looked at Bokomon, who was hurriedly leafing through his book.

"There isn't anything in the book on it," he squeaked exasperatedly. "Just on the city's gems."

"Maybe the city's Digicode is in one of those gems?" Tomoki asked.

"You could be right," Izumi agreed. "But there are a lot of gems in the city, it's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"We can handle that, right guys?" Junpei said, glancing at Izumi, Tomoki, and myself. The other two swiftly agreed. I just nodded,

"You two need to get some rest," Izumi told Takuya and Kouji. "We'll handle the evacuation, and try looking for the city's Digicode while we're at it."

"Rest? Aw, c'mon Izumi, the city's in danger!" Trust Takuya to argue about something like that.

"If you hadn't noticed, goggle head, the Knights won't even _get_ here until tomorrow." Izumi stepped forward until she was standing right in front of him and poked a finger at his chest. "And since you two are the only ones that stand a chance against them, you are the ones who need to be at their best when that happens. So you just sit back and let _us_ handle things until that happens."

"Can't argue with that," Kouji said. He looked at me. "Just take care of yourself, Kouichi. I don't want to deal with you getting hurt again, all right?"

I smiled, shyly. "Don't worry, Kouji. We've got this."

Naturally when big emergencies happen in big cities you get a whole lot of chaos. Digimon everywhere, mostly streaming towards the Trailmon station. Those who had wings or could fly were taking off in droves. With all that going on, it was kind of hard to get anywhere. In the end, we decided to save time and spirit evolve. Well, two of us had wings so it was easier for Fairymon to lift Chakmon while she and Blitzmon flew and I just took the high route, leaping from building to building as Lowemon. Once we'd done that, it wasn't too hard to get to the city's town hall.

"Well, here we go," Blitzmon said as we arrived. "Let's see, we need to see where the city's Digicode is kept so we can make sure the Knights don't get their hands on it..."

"And we also need to see if there's anything we can do to help with the evacuation," Chakkmon added.

"Guys, don't get your hopes up," Fairymon said. "They seem to have the evacuation covered so far."

"Yeah, but there's gotta be _some_thing we can do," Chakkmon pointed out.

"I hope so," Blitzmon grumbled. "I don't want to sit around uselessly while those two get to do everything again."

"Oh give it a rest!" Fairymon snapped. "Takuya and Kouji are the only ones who even have a _chance_ against the Knights..."

"And thanks to the Hyper Evolutions, we're nothing but bystanders!"

"Okay, calm down!" I stepped in between Blitzmon and Fairymon. "This really isn't the time for arguments. Let's just see what we can do for now."

The inside of the town hall, like the rest of the city, was something of an organized chaos. Digimon ran or flew everywhere, carrying messages and paper. A large crowd of digimon hovered around a futuristic-looking table with a holographic projection of a map of the city on it. That was probably the city's ruling council, I decided, and headed over there with the others right behind me.

As we approached, one of the council digimon noticed us and turned around. He looked a little like an old man with a beard. I knew the name, it just took me a moment to recall it. Something to do with old men...Jijimon, that was it. I'd actually encountered one once, back when I was Duskmon. Essentially Cherubimon had wanted me to assassinate him, since he was becoming a thorn in Cherubimon's side. That had been before I'd met the others, back when I'd been something of a soulless monster. I pushed aside the memories of that Jijimon's demise. They weren't going to help me here. Besides, I was past the guilt I felt from all that. Mostly.

"What...? What are Legendary warriors doing _here?" _He asked, stunned no doubt by four Legendary Warriors walking towards him.

"Isn't that obvious...? We're here to help you," Fairymon said.

"Where is the city's Digicode kept?" Blitzmon asked. "If we can keep that away from the Royal Knights, we'll have a better chance of getting through this intact."

"The city's Digicode is hidden so securely, the Knights will never be able to find it," the Jijimon told him. "And they won't even be able to look for it. Our guard force has over two dozen ultimates, plus fifty perfects. They won't get over the walls."

"But the Knights are stronger than any digimon we've encountered," Fairymon said. "And we're the ones who scanned _Cherubimon_. I don't think your guards even have a chance against them."

"Lady warrior, this city's guard force is the best-trained army in the Digital World. Our Digicode is the best hidden in the Digital World. This city is safe, the only reason we're sending the non-fighters away is so that they will not panic and be underfoot when the fight begins. That would be a bigger disaster."

"But the Knights have scanned most of the world now," I said. "I can't remember how much of the population here are ultimate, but I know there's a lot more of them in this world than in your army. Some of them fought back...And look what it got them. The only ones that even have a chance are the Legendary Warriors, and even then we must combine our spirits. Now please tell us where your Digicode is kept, it could save your city and this world."

"While we appreciate your help, Warrior of Darkness, the honest answer is that we don't know where the city's Digicode is hidden," the Jijimon nervously ran a hand through his hair. "It was hidden so long ago, by the original Legendary Warriors, or so the story goes. If anyone knows where it is, it's you. I'm afraid it's not much help, but try having some faith in our guards for once. They might just surprise you."

Fairymon growled, and I had the feeling she was going to lose her temper. Not the sort of thing we wanted to do around the guys we were trying to save. I was about to go over and restrain her, but Blitzmon beat me to it.

"C'mon, guys," he said around Fairymon's flailing arms and wings. "Let's see if we can find that Digicode."

**Author's Notes: Not much to say for this chapter. The action's starting to heat up more.**


	5. Chapter 5

_I do not own Digimon, the characters in it, or any other franchise I may accidentally mention. This is fan-made, and not for profit. Enjoy._

There wasn't much point in staying evolved when we were outside the town hall, so we de-volved. Izumi was still in a bad mood as we went down the steps.

"I swear, that Jijimon has _rocks_ in his brain! If the Royal Knights are strong enough to take the code from most of the _world,_ they should be looking for the city's Digicode, not bragging about their army."

"Yeah, he reminds me of the way Takuya was right before that fight with..." Tomoki suddenly trailed off, glancing at me. "Oops, sorry."

"And guess who gets to play Kouji this time and take the hit?" Junpei grumbled. "I don't think the Royal Knights are going to suddenly realize they're the Legendary Warriors' lost brothers."

"Junpei, you have all the tact of a boulder," Izumi sighed exasperatedly.

"Huh?"

"Kouichi's _right there_, and I don't think he really wants to be reminded about that time."

"Oh," Junpei looked over at me. "Sorry about that, Kouichi."

"It's okay," I said. "You guys have a point about that Jijimon acting like Takuya. We need to find that Digicode, or else the others will have to fight the Knights..." And seeing my brother in danger was the last thing I wanted to do. I realized I'd clenched my fists in frustration at both the thought of Kouji in danger and my own helplessness.

"I know," Izumi said, while the others nodded. "Where did I put that map of the city...?" She dug through her pockets and came up with a much-folded map of Aquamarine City. "So, if the original Legendary Warriors hid the city's Digicode, maybe their spirits will react to it."

"That means more walking," Junpei groaned. "C'mon, Izumi, we've been walking all day."

"So? You could use the exercise. Kouichi, you and I'll take the harbor, Junpei, you and Tomoki..."

"Wait a minute, you went with Kouichi this morning," Junpei interrupted her. "Weren't you the one telling us that you didn't want to always end up with the same people?"

She glared at him. "Okay, _Tomoki_ and I'll take the harbor. You and _Kouichi_ handle the city's south side. And no slacking off this time!"

As Junpei uttered a loud protest at the thought of him slacking off on _anything_, I leaned over to Tomoki.

"Think maybe we should give her Takuya's goggles before she takes them?" I asked softly.

Tomoki giggled.

With all the gems and jewels in the city, you can guess it made finding one gem, presumably the one with the city's Digicode, a lot harder, if it was even _in _one The one upside to the situation was that all the digimon in the area seemed to be evacuated already.

"I _still _don't know how we're going to do this" Junpei whined two hours later as we walked down the path through the city's southern section, the part of the city which held most of the shops. "It's gonna take us weeks to cover this whole city, when all we have are a few hours at most."

I sighed. "Let's just cover this section of the city, and if we can't find anything we go back to the inn."

"I don't think we're gonna find it here," he said. "If the Legendary Warriors hid it, they probably hid it somewhere that nobody else would stumble across it by accident. Maybe some kind of vault underground or something. That's what _I'd_ do."

"Maybe, but wouldn't the Knights be expecting something like that?" I asked. "So if you're trying to fake someone into thinking it's hidden really deeply when it's right in front of your face...I don't know, what's that phrase for something like that? Reverse something?"

"Reverse psychology? It could be, I guess..." Junpei rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That might be why the digimon here don't have a clue where it is, if they think it's someplace like an underground vault...Aw, I don't know."

We walked along in relative silence for a few more minutes, then Junpei suddenly yelped and fell forward, crashing down onto his hands and knees.

"Are you okay?" I asked, offering him a hand up.

"Yeah, I tripped on something...What is that anyways...? A banner?"

I looked at the rope-like object in question. "Actually, it looks more like a jump rope. Probably someone's toy."

"Really? I can't see very well in this light."

I blinked. True, the late night was making it a bit hard to see, but in the dim light of the occasional lantern I could see fairly well.

"You can't see...? I can see, mostly. It's a bit hard with the lanterns spaced out like this."

"Maybe it's because you've got the spirits of Darkness," Junpei suggested. "If they're giving you night vision, then maybe they're affecting everyone else, too...I wonder what the Thunder spirits are doing to me...Wouldn't it be cool if I could predict storms and lightning strikes."

"Well, maybe if we had a storm here we could test that," I remarked.

"Yeah, too bad there isn't one around...Wonder what Izumi could do? I mean, Fire would mean Takuya wouldn't worry about stuff like heat or getting burned, and Ice...Tomoki'd never have to worry about getting cold, but Wind's...What would that do? And Light, too. What would Kouji get out of it?"

"Wind could probably predict storms," I said thoughtfully. "She might be able to hear stuff on the wind, I read a book once which had a character who could do that."

"Really?" Junpei asked. "I wonder if she could hear what we're saying right now?"

"I don't think so," I told him. "There isn't much wind right now. And she's busy with Tomoki anyways."

"You're probably right," he sighed. "So, how about Kouji? Maybe he won't have to worry about wearing sunglasses on bright days."

"Yeah, maybe," I said. I hadn't heard my brother complain too much about bright sunlight but then again we'd been on the continent of Darkness for the start of our adventures together, one of the moons for another part, and had just gotten back from the moon before coming to Aquamarine City. They weren't exactly places known for bright sunlight. Actually, thinking of my brother (And less pleasantly the things I'd tried to to to him) brought something else to mind.

"Actually, my spirits might be helping in other ways...I haven't had one nightmare since that first time, before I de-corrupted my spirits."

Junpei stopped to look at me. "I think you're right. That probably helps a lot. That one time sounded like a really bad dream."

There was a sudden rush of air and then an odd-looking bird-man type of digimon was suddenly in front of us. I belatedly recognized it as a Silphymon.

"This area is being evacuated," it said in a threatening voice. "All non-fighters are heading to the Trailmon terminals. Now get moving."

"We're not evacuating," Junpei told it. "We're Legendary Warriors, and we're helping the city."

"Legendary Warriors? What does that matter to me? Were you not the ones who worked with Cherubimon, to destroy this world? How do I know you haven't transferred allegiance to Lucemon?"

I sighed in exasperation. "We're not working for Lucemon, and we're trying to find the city's Digicode before the Royal Knights do. Unless _you _know where it is. We'd really like to get this over with."

The Silphymon moved so that it was towering over me. "You are the Warrior of Darkness, are you not...? The one who was Cherubimon's right hand digimon."

I stiffened. "Cherubimon corrupted my spirits and used me. I'm not his pawn anymore."

"And yet, you are still _darkness_, the element of all evil."

"Wasn't Lucemon supposed to be an angel?" Junpei asked suddenly. "And aren't all angels _light _types? Come to think of it, wasn't _Cherubimon_ an angel, too?"

The Silphymon paused, now a bit confused.

"They...Yes, they are. Angels who fell to the darkness."

"Oh, for..." Junpei rolled his eyes. "I heard all those stories, Lucemon was corrupted by too much power, and _he_ was the one who corrupted Cherubimon. Darkness isn't any eviler than Light. Or Thunder, for that matter. Now we'd like to go search for the city's Digicode, so could you get out of the way, already?!"

"I must apologize, humans," the Silphymon said, "but my orders are to keep any who are not in the city's guard force in the central district by the Trailmon terminal. I cannot go against my orders, you must understand. And since you two are not in the guard force, this includes you, even if you are Legendary Warriors."

Junpei opened his mouth to object further, but I put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not worth it," I told him.

"Yeah, you're right." Junpei turned to join me in walking back the way we came. Still, there was one thing I couldn't get out of my mind.

"Hey, Junpei..."

"Hmm?"

"I wanted...To...I mean...Thanks for helping me out back there." Talking about things isn't really something I'm good at. You might say I'm better at reacting than I am at reaching out.

"Oh. It's nothing, Kouichi. You're one of us now...Besides, that Silphymon had it coming for assuming all dark digimon were evil. Honestly, it's probably thinking like this that started those ancient wars in the first place."

There wasn't really anything I could think of to say to that, so I didn't say anything.

The journey back to the inn was a lot quieter than earlier, mostly because the digimon evacuating had been, well, evacuated. There were some exceptions however. Digimon who thought themselves strong fighters or had everything to lose with the city's destruction. And of course us.

We ran into Izumi at the inn's main room, she was sitting at a nearby table, in the process of polishing off a meal. She waved as we came in. Neemon was also there, playing around with a spinning chair. Bokomon on the other hand seemed to be looking through his book.

"You two got chased off by the guard force, too...?" Izumi asked.

"Yeah," Junpei said, slumping into a chair across from her. "They're really strict, aren't they?"

"They're just lucky Tomoki was getting sleepy," Izumi grumbled. "We decided it might be easier to just come back than to argue with them. Tomoki's asleep upstairs, by the way. So's Takuya and Patamon."

"Well, he was pretty worn out from that fire earlier," Junpei said.

"Where's Kouji?" I asked, even though I had a feeling I knew the answer.

"The roof," Izumi shrugged. "He said you could come up and join him if you wanted."

"I think I will," I said, and headed for the stairs.

**Author's Notes: I kinda made up the geography of the city on the fly (Something I tend to do a lot.) Anyways, I always kinda wondered if the kids' elements had any effects on them. This was the first chance I got to actually bring it up.**


	6. Chapter 6

_I do not own Digimon, the characters in it, or any other franchise I may accidentally mention. This is fan-made, and not for profit. Enjoy._

Kouji was, as Izumi had said, on the roof. This time he was sprawled in the middle, looking up at the stars. He didn't even glance up when I opened the door.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I said. I tried to think of something to say to break the silence, but couldn't think of much.

"The guard force kicked you guys back here too, huh?" Kouji asked.

"Yeah," I considered sitting over by the wall again, but decided it might be easier to sit down by where Kouji was. "We didn't get much done tonight."

"That's what Izumi said."

A few minutes passed, while I wondered what my brother was doing out here, anyways? True, it was quiet, but it was also getting late and a bit chilly.

"Kouji?"

He turned and looked at me.

"What?"

"What are you doing up here?"

"I was just thinking about what you said last night about the stars...It's funny, you know, light and darkness together. The stars stand out better with the dark sky behind them...Like us, in a way."

"You're right," I leaned back a bit to see the stars. Had it only been last night we'd talked about this? It felt more like two or three.

"Hey, Kouichi...? You know more about the constellations here than I do. Could you tell me about 'em?"

I sort of wish I'd been able to get my hands on a star map before that conversation had happened. It would've been a _lot_ better than pointing at the stars. Anyways, by the time I'd gotten through most of the major constellations, we were _both _yawning and I was getting a bit hoarse from talking.

"C'mon, big brother," Kouji said around another yawn. "Let's get to bed."

I rubbed at my eyes sleepily as we headed back down the stairs to our room. Actually, it was _rooms_ now. The evacuation of the city had taken most of the digimon out, and before the owners left they had told us we could have as many rooms as we needed. Naturally, Kouji and I were sharing a room.

"It's gonna feel good sleeping in a real bed again," Kouji remarked as we got ready for bed. "I mean, I can sleep almost anywhere. Dad said I could fall asleep in a thorn bush if I wanted to...But I prefer a bed myself."

"You're doing better than I am," I said. "I don't think I've ever slept anywhere besides a bed, futon, or cot before this."

He smirked at me. "When we get home, I'll have to persuade Dad to take both of us on one of his little camping trips. The last time we were on one, it rained non-stop, and a raccoon managed to get into our food. It was absolutely miserable. Dad says he's just happy Satomi didn't come, or else he'd never hear the end of it."

I smiled as I climbed into bed. "Yeah, if I were on a trip like that, I'd be pretty miserable, too."

"Yeah well, that's one thing we're gonna have to work on if we're gonna be real twins. Misery loves company after all. And I don't see why _I _should be the only one to suffer Dad's cooking."

I snorted. "_Your_ cooking could use some work too, Kouji. The others told me about that little incident with the Burgermon, I hear you two made Neemon and Bokomon sick."

"That wasn't me, that was all _Takuya's_ fault."

"_Sure_, it was." I paused. "If it's any help, Mom can't cook very well, either. Grandma did most of the cooking...Before she..." I tried to keep the grief that still clung to me from my grandmother's death out of my voice, but it didn't work.

"I'm sorry." Kouji said. "I wish I could've known her."

"It's not your fault," I told him. "She would've liked to meet you, and she'd be really happy to see us together like this. Like a real family."

"We _are_ a real family." Kouji said this in such a determined voice that I turned to look at him. "Just because we don't know each other very well doesn't mean we're not a real family, right Kouichi?"

"Right," I said, that shy smile drifting onto my face again. "G'night, Kouji."

"'Night, big brother." He turned off the lights.

The next day, unlike the last two, dawned cloudy. It didn't really look like rain, but it wasn't all bright and sunny. _So much for looking at the stars tonight_, I thought looking out the window. Of course, that assumed that the city would survive, that _any_ of us would survive.

This time, we agreed to go looking for the city's Digicode in trios, rather than in pairs, since it made it easier to evolve Takuya and Kouji into Kaisergreymon and Magnagarurumon. Since the Aquamarine City's guard force was going to be taking part in this battle, Kouji rather pointedly suggested that the rest of us find a Trailmon after we evolved. Bokomon decided to go one step further and find one right there and then, dragging Neemon off by his pants with Patamon fluttering above his head. Bokomon said that his decision was probably more for Patamon's safety than his own self-preservation instincts. We were a bit suspicious of that, at least.

So anyways, it was Junpei, my brother and I walking down the abandoned streets holding our digivices out with the hope that they'd react to the city's digicode, giving us a chance to secure both it and Aquamarine City.

"You'd think the Legendary Warriors would hide the code someplace obvious," Junpei grumbled. "A statue of themselves, maybe. But _no_, they had to be _clever_ and hide it someplace where not even the folks who _live _here could figure it out. Man, this stinks!"

"Think about it, if they left the Digicode right out in the open, anyone could get it," Kouji told him.

"With any luck the Royal Knights won't know where it, and they'll be in the same boat we are." I added.

"Yeah, but that's if they don't know where it is," Kouji said. "For all I know, the Knights were there when the Warriors hid it in the first place."

I flinched. _ That _hadn't been something I'd thought of. It made finding the Digicode even more important. We walked along for a few more minutes before Junpei suddenly slowed to a stop.

"Hey, guys?"

Kouji and I both stopped to look at him.

"Look over there, that place's door is open."

We both looked over at the place in question. It looked like some digimon's house. In fact, it looked perfectly ordinary, barring the fact that, as Junpei had said, the door was wide open.

"So what, it's an open door." Kouji said somewhat irritably.

"Wouldn't most digimon close their doors before they leave? In case of thieves?" I asked him. "The only reason I can think of for that door to be open is if someone was still in there..."

"They evacuated the rest of the city, didn't they?" Junpei added. "There shouldn't be anyone in there right now."

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll go look. _You _stay out here in case the Knights show up. They probably forgot to close their door," he muttered that last part under his breath. In a slightly louder voice, he said "C'mon, Kouichi."

The inside of the house showed every evidence of hasty packing. I could see several drawers and closet doors left open, and a table was knocked over as if its' owner couldn't spare the time to pick it up.

"Doesn't look like there's anybody in here," Kouji remarked. "I think they left in such a hurry that they forgot to close the door."

I was about to agree with him when I caught a whiff of a strange smell.

"Kouji, what's that smell?"

He blinked, then sniffed.

"Smells a little bit like pine trees," he said. "I used to climb one when I was a kid...Always got the sap all over me. Satomi was furious."

I stifled a snicker at the thought of Kouji coming home all sticky. It must've been quite a sight.

"It's unusual for a house in the Digital world to smell like pine trees," I remarked. "The only stuff I can think of that smells like it is that cleaner they use at home."

"You're right, Kouichi," Kouji said, heading in the direction of the house's back rooms. "I think we should check it out."

We walked towards the back of the house, the sharp scent of pine trees getting stronger with every step. There was one room at the end of the hall with its' door closed. I suspected that this was where the pine scent was coming from. Kouji pulled out his digivice, presumably in case something went wrong. I decided to follow his example. Then Kouji opened the door.

I had a split second to glimpse a room with walls covered in some sticky tar-like substance, an instant to realize that pine sap was also known as _pitch_, and that pitch was _flammable_, then I heard my brother cry out. In the heartbeat that I turned my head to see what was wrong, something slammed into me and I felt my digivice being pulled out of my hand. I staggered, caught off balance by whatever it was that had taken my digivice and wound up on my backside. I could see Kouji picking himself up from where he, too, had fallen. Then I looked up to see a blue and white humanoid digimon holding our digivices.

"Not so powerful without these, are you?" It asked. I realized that this must've been the digimon who'd attacked us.

"What are you?" Kouji demanded. "Why did you attack us?"

"I am Rinkmon, the fastest digimon in the world. You two had the misfortune of stumbling across my revenge on the guard force."

"Then you're the arsonist?" I'll admit, I'd already figured that out, but I wanted to make sure of it first.

"I could've been the greatest digimon in the guard force," the digimon said, striking a "tragic" pose. "If they had only accepted me, Rinkmon, the fastest of the fast into their ranks. But no, they had to go for power levels over speed. So what if I'm merely an adult type? All their perfects and ultimates couldn't hope to outspeed me. So I decided to teach them a little lesson. My one regret is that none have died in the fires I started...But that's about to change, isn't it humans...?"

The digimon, Rinkmon, advanced on us threateningly, suddenly grabbing both of us by the arms and throwing us into the pitch-covered room.

"Any last words before I start the fire, humans?" It asked, stepping into the room itself and releasing a few sparks of what looked like electricity from its arms. I guessed that the electric attacks were how it started the fires.

"This is all your fault." I blinked and turned my head to see Kouji glaring at me.

"Huh?" I stuttered, too shocked to get that one word out.

"If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be in this situation." My brother pulled himself to his feet, still glaring down at me. "'There's nobody here,' I said. 'They probably left the door open by accident,' I said. But no, my brother had to be all _sweet_ and _compassionate_ and check the place out. Now look what you've gotten us into!"

"What _I've_ gotten us into?" I demanded, getting to my feet to look him in the eye. "As I recall, _you_ were the one who volunteered to go investigate, I just came along to help you."

"Some help _you_ were," Kouji said, stomping a few feet away. "You just stood there while that Rinkmon took us _both_ down. Aren't brothers supposed to look out for each other? Because that didn't look like looking out to me."

I gasped, feeling the return of all that anger I'd felt towards Kouji since I'd first seen him. So happy, with his family...No,_ that _wasn't what I wanted to feel anymore. My brother wasn't like that.

...Was he?

That's when I thought of something. Maybe it was that twin bond people talk about, maybe it was thinking logically. Either way, Kouji's accusations didn't _feel_ right.

In fact, they felt like he was making them up on the spur of the moment.

That was it. He was trying to find a way to keep that Rinkmon from frying us both, or trying to stall until Junpei figured out something was wrong, and came to check it out himself.

Well, two could play at that kind of game.

"_You _didn't exactly look out for _me_ very well, did you Kouji?" I asked, walking up to him. "In fact, you got your digivice stolen even faster than me. So, who's the weaker one here? Because it sure isn't _me_."

Kouji whipped around to glare at me. I took advantage of the fact that my back was turned towards the Rinkmon to wink at him. His eyes widened a little, but other than that he showed no sign of anything that would betray our little act to the Rinkmon.

"Oh yeah, mister 'I'm stronger.' You think that lasting one more second against that Rinkmon makes you so great? Let's see how you last against _this_!"

I knew instantly Kouji was pulling his punches. The others had given me chapter and verse about how my brother's hand-to-hand combat skills, plus when I had been trailing him back at home he had once mentioned some kind of self-defense class while on the phone with our father. Either way, his "punch" whiffed two inches past my face, making me stagger back and fall down again.

"See? You can't last even last one second against me. _Now_ who's the strong one?" Kouji demanded. I responded by pulling myself back to my feet, and launching a half-hearted punch at him. Naturally, it missed. By a mile. Well, I didn't want to hurt him, and I'm not nearly as good at fighting as he was. Kouji was swift enough to come up with a better reason for that miss.

"Did I hit a nerve there? You had better control of yourself as _Velgmon_!"

"Hey!" I gasped, trying to throw another "punch," "You leave Velgmon out of this!"

"Oh, sorry. Did I hurt your feelings,_ big brother?_ You haven't lost that special charm, have you? But then again, what else would I expect from the warrior of Darkness?"

"Is that what you think...? Just because I'm the warrior of Darkness automatically means I'm not normal, or that I'm gonna go evil again. Is _that _it? What next, are you gonna blame me for the Royal Knights? For _Lucemon?"_

I stepped closer to Kouji who managed to aim another "punch" at me, just barely stopping short of my chest. I didn't even flinch this time.

"Every time something goes wrong, d'you know who everyone thinks is connected?" I demanded. "_Me! _ Kouichi! Just because I have the worst luck in the Digital World to be the warrior of Darkness. I'm not weak like you think, Kouji. And I'm not going to hide in your shadow all my life just because we're_ twins_!"

By this time, I realized that in our little false "argument," we had managed to move so that we were about a foot from the front of the the Rinkmon. And the Rinkmon was standing about two feet from one of the pitch-smeared walls...

"Enough, humans! This ends here and now..." The Rinkmon had finally managed to recover from the shock of seeing two brothers suddenly get into a loud fight. I caught Kouji's eyes and kind of shifted my own eyes towards the Rinkmon. We needed to take it down,_ now_. I hoped Kouji would understand what I meant by that little gesture. His eyes narrowed a little.

"And my revenge will be com-" The Rinkmon was too wrapped up in its' little monologue to even think that two "weak and helpless" humans would attack it. It got a huge surprise however when Kouji and I suddenly both slammed into it, shoulder-first. That sent the Rinkmon flying into a pitch-smeared wall. Kouji moved in to grab out digivices from its' hand before it could react and tossed mine to me. Then we both Spirit Evolved.

"You can't do this to me," the Rinkmon shrieked. "I haven't completed my revenge yet! The city doesn't know that I'm the greatest Digi-"

Wolfmon responded by whipping out one of his Licht Seigers and impaling the Rinkmon, causing its' Digicode to appear.

"Evil digimon, be purified by the light! Digicode scan!" Wolfmon said, as he scanned the Rinkmon's data, leaving nothing but a Digitama floating off through the roof.

**Author's notes: So in the original draft of my story, this was the climax. When I started typing it up, it seemed strange to have them go through all this work and not take on the Royal Knights, so I had to whip out a fight with them. So yeah, you've been spoiled for future events. Nyah! Oh, and I also used the Japanese word for "egg" here. I dunno, "Tama" flows off the tongue better than "egg."**


	7. Chapter 7

_I do not own Digimon, the characters in it, or any other franchise I may accidentally mention. This is fan-made, and not for profit. Enjoy._

There was an awkward silence as we both de-evolved and glanced at one another. Finally Kouji spoke up.

"Kouichi, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"I...I know you figured out I didn't really mean what I said, but I...I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

"I need to apologize too. For one moment there, I actually doubted you." I ran a hand through my hair in a nervous gesture. "And for an instant I felt betrayed again."

"Kouichi?"

I looked up at him. In the slightly over a week I'd known my brother, I'd never seen him so determined-looking.

"If I ever call you the 'weak one' again, feel free to hit me with something. _Hard. _I promise I won't dodge." He suddenly grinned. "Because I might not have known you for very long, but you're one of the strongest people I know. Not many people could be brainwashed into becoming a ruthless assassin and still be sane. And how many people could have the guts to tell Cherubimon you won't fall for his type of Darkness to his_ face?"_

I snorted. "I wouldn't call standing up to Cherubimon_ sane_, but it had to be done."

"That's not what I meant," Kouji began, but stopped at the sound of running feet. Sure enough, Junpei staggered over to the door of the room we were in, breathing heavily.

"What the heck_ happened_?! I saw a Digitama floating off and thought it was one of you guys! Don't _scare _me like that!"

"Let's just say that arsonist has set his last fire," Kouji said with a smirk.

"That arsonist? You scanned him then?" Junpei looked around, trying to confirm his guess. "What was he, anyways?"

"A Rinkmon," I told him. "I guess he tried to get into the guard force, got rejected, then decided to get his revenge by burning buildings."

"Oh," Junpei said. "We should get out of here, the guard force are saying the Royal Knights will be here soon."

"Right," Kouji replied. "C'mon, big brother. Let's go."

I sighed. After all the scrabbling and searching we had done, we still were going to have to fight the Royal Knights. Or rather, _Takuya _and _Kouji _were going to have to fight them. And we were going to have to just sit around, doing nothing. Like all the other times.

It actually felt like a relief to get out of that house and back into the fresh, if not sunlit, air. Just as we did however, I heard the city's alarm going off again. Kouji cursed.

"So much for searching for the city's Digicode," he said irritably.

"Looks like it's time for Magnagarurumon to make an appearance," Junpei turned to Kouji, pulling out his digivice. "Here you go." His digivice flashed as the Spirits of Thunder floated from there to Kouji's digivice.

"Kouichi?" Kouji asked me. I swallowed down my objections and pulled my own digivice out. It was the only chance we had, after all. And it wasn't like it was some stranger I was giving my spirits to. No, it was Kouji, my brother. So what if it made me and the others useless bystanders?

We didn't have a_ choice._

"Keep safe," I said around a lump in my throat, as my spirits floated out, following the Thunder spirits to his digivice.

Kouji stared at me for a moment, then grinned. Then he started the Hyper Spirit Evolution to Magnagarurumon.

"You two hurry up and find a Trailmon," he told us once he'd finished. "This is going to get messy very fast."

The nearest Trailmon station was only a few minutes' run from where we started. It felt even longer because of the Royal Knights. Even as we ran (Or in Junpei's case, _tried_ to run) we could hear the explosions from where someone, I guessed the guard force, had already engaged them.

"Kouichi! Junpei!" I could see Izumi waving at us from the rear car of a Trailmon. It looked like a Mole type. Probably the same one that had brought us there. "Over here!"

It didn't take us long to reach the car. Izumi gave a panting Junpei a hand up as I waited my turn.

"Honestly, you need to go on a diet," She exclaimed.

_"Izumi!"_ Junpei groaned between gasps.

"Sorry." Izumi turned to face the explosions. By this point, Junpei had recovered enough from the run to move out of the way, which let me climb on.

"Hey, guys!" Tomoki said, sticking his head out of the car's door. "Did you have any luck finding the Digicode?"

"Nope," Junpei told him. "Although we did catch that arsonist."

"Really?" Tomoki's eyes went wide.

"Yeah," I squeezed past the others into the Trailmon's car. "It was a Rinkmon. It said it tried to get into the guard force, but got rejected, so it was trying to get revenge."

"Rinkmon are a fast type of digimon," Bokomon remarked from a nearby seat, apparently looking it up in his book. "That would explain how it was able to get away in time."

"It could run away before you'd blink," Neemon added. I shuddered, remembering how it had taken me and Kouji down before we could even evolve.

"I _hate_ this," Izumi grumbled as the others came into the car. "I _really_ hate not being able to do anything but watch. Why did Ophanimon have to make it this way?! Couldn't she do what Seraphimon's egg did to Takuya and Kouji, give us all the ability to use both spirits at once?"

"I don't know how I did that," Patamon said, hovering over her as she went over to stand by the window which faced the battle

"And even if he could, Takuya and Kouji have all our spirits now." Tomoki went over to join her. I settled for sitting down across the aisle from the window, where I could see the battle without moving. What I could see was mostly the wall that surrounded the city. On top of the wall, I could see several catapults hurling boulders at what I assumed were the Knights.

"How's it looking?" Junpei asked, joining the other two at the window.

"Not good," Izumi replied. "The guard force digimon are swarming the Knights, making it hard for Kaisergreymon and Magnagarurumon to hit them without hitting the guard force, too."

"And the _Knights_ don't have to worry about not hitting the guard force," Tomoki said, turning away from the window. He looked a bit pale. I couldn't blame him. "They're getting _killed_ out there."

"More like _massacred_," Junpei also turned away from the window. "I can't watch any more of it."

Izumi pounded the window in frustration.

_"Dannazione!"_ She shouted. "There's got to be _something _we can do. I can't just sit here and watch innocent digimon get slaughtered."

"Well, they told us to stay here," Tomoki told her.

"And even if we didn't, what could we do?" Junpei asked.

Izumi glared at both of them. "What could we do? Find the city's Digicode before the Knights do. What else?" She stormed off towards the car's exit.

"Izumi, wait!" Instantly, Junpei and Tomoki were on their feet and following her. I hesitated a little bit before getting up to join them.

"W-Wait, you three! Takuya and Kouji told you to stay here...!" Bokomon began following us, but Neemon and Patamon grabbed him by his haramaki.

"Don't worry, we'll be okay! You guys stay there!" Tomoki called over his shoulder. I couldn't help thinking that those would make wonderful last words, as we left the car.

It wasn't possible to walk through the city with our digivices. The loud explosions and general chaos of the battle made that clear, and even then I wasn't sure they'd even react to the city's Digicode without our spirits..But that wasn't going to stop Izumi, and the rest of us, from trying. We did however stay as far away from the part of the city where the actual fight was taking place as possible. Not that that was easy to do.

"Look out!" Tomoki yelled, as a large boulder from one of the city's catapults missed Dynasmon, but managed to hit a nearby clock tower instead, so that what was left of it came crashing down about twenty feet from us. Luckily the tower wasn't close enough to actually hit us, but the crash sent rocks and what looked like sapphires from the roof flying in all directions. Junpei flung himself on Izumi as Tomoki grabbed my legs, then we were covered in a swirling mess of smoke and dust. I took a deep breath and tried to see through the smoke to see if the others were okay, only to realize that I'd just inhaled a mouthful of dust. Not really something that tastes very good. As I coughed on the dust I could feel Tomoki's arms pull away from me. He too was coughing. I could hear Junpei and Izumi coughing, too. They were alive!

"Get off me, Junpei!" Izumi's voice snapped through the haze.

"Sorry," Junpei said. "Kouichi, Tomoki, are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Tomoki bent over to retrieve his hat that had evidently blown off. Personally, I always thought the hat made him look like a mushroom, but I wasn't going to tell him that. I was relieved to see that the wind was blowing all the smoke and dust away, which meant I could see again.

"C'mon," Izumi said. "That Digicode isn't going to find itself."

We started moving again, past the remains of the clock tower. I noticed Tomoki moving off to look over at the clock part of the clock tower.

"Tomoki?" I asked. "We really should keep together, you know."

"Guys, I found something," Tomoki sounded excited. "I think it might be the Digicode!"

That was enough to get everyone's attention. Running up to the clock, I was surprised to see that the clock's face was made of an enormous diamond. The diamond was strong enough to survive the destruction of the tower. Well, it would've been, it was a _diamond_. Anyways, it had mostly fallen out onto the ground, but that wasn't what had gotten Tomoki's attention. What _had _was the fact that the diamond had reflections in it. In a normal reflection you'd see yourself, but the diamond had Chakkmon in its' reflection, instead of Tomoki. And Blitzmon, Fairymon, and Lowemon joined him.

"I don't believe it," Junpei said. "It's _us_..."

"Us as the Legendary Warriors." Izumi agreed. "There was nothing about _this _in the street map."

"It's the city's Digicode, isn't it?" Tomoki asked.

"I think you're right," I said. "Now we need to figure out how to get it away from the Knights."

"We should try using our Digivices," Junpei suggested. "I mean, they've done the trick every time we've used them."

We all looked at each other and nodded, then we pulled out our digivices.

**Author's note: One last bit of Italian for you. "**_**Dannazione"**_** is what the translator brought up for (if you'll pardon my French) "Damn it!" Yeah, I really hate swearing, but given what the other kids are going through, a little cursing (in Italian) is called for, right? Anyways, the fight has begun. I stink at writing really good fight scenes...I got an advantage this time because the viewpoint wasn't directly involved with the fight. One last cliffhanger, and the next chapter will end this.**


	8. Chapter 8

_I do not own Digimon, the characters in it, or any other franchise I may accidentally mention. This is fan-made, and not for profit. Enjoy._

The digivices started glowing the moment we turned them to face the diamond, which in turn made the diamond glow. I realized that making it _glow _probably wasn't the best thing to do when there were two very strong digimon trying to find it, but thinking about it I didn't think we had much of a choice. We couldn't exactly lift it, and standing around trying to get Kaisergreymon or Magnagarurumon's attention was likely to get the same result. Then the diamond started floating in the air, which of course meant the Knights were even _more _likely to notice it.

"Why's it floating?!" Tomoki yelled. I flinched because he was right next to my ear when he yelled that. Did I mention I'm not a big fan of loud noises?

"I have no idea," Junpei was also yelling.

By this point the diamond was about fifty or so feet above us, still glowing. I could see Rhodoknightmon fighting Magnagarurumon way off in the distance, both of them moving narly too fast for me to see. It was the closer fight that caught my attention, however. Dynasmon blasted Kaisergreymon into the city's town hall and started flying towards us.

"We've got to get out of here!" Izumi cried.

I took one look at the approaching Dynasmon and joined her and the others in running back the way we had come. Dynasmon, intent on getting the Digicode, completely ignored us and flew right at the diamond.

"How appropriate," I heard him say. "The Digicode shines like a beacon. Just like lord Lucemon."

Then there was a massive crash above us as a nearby building started falling. I think what happened was that that part of the building's wall had been damaged earlier in the fight, but had held out until that point. Anyways, like I said the building came falling down about fifty feet away, which wouldn't be so bad except it blocked off the street, effectively trapping us. Izumi uttered a loud curse in Italian. I turned to look back at the diamond.

Dynasmon was building up power for that Breath of Wyvern attack he uses. The one that had effectively blown us to the moon the last time we'd fought them. He was probably going to use that to break the diamond and get the Digicode. He never got that attack off however. Magnagarurumon, seeing what was about to happen, used that exploding armor attack to distract Rhodoknightmon, then Starlight Velocity'd his way over to Dynasmon, hitting the Royal Knight before he could get the attack off.

"Dynasmon!" Rhodoknightmon exclaimed. He suddenly had to dodge a swipe from Kaisergreymon's sword.

"You fool!" Dynasmon cried. "Feel the wrath of the Royal Knights! Dragon's Roar!"

He fired a laser out of the palm of his hands at Magnagarurumon, who dodged it rather easily. The beam hit the diamond, and something rather strange happened. Instead of bouncing off the diamond or going right through the diamond the beam went into the diamond, then somehow got trapped inside. The diamond's glow turned red and it started shaking.

"What's going on?" Tomoki asked.

"I'm not sure, but my best guess is that that laser got trapped in the diamond," Junpei said.

"But, why's it shaking like that?" Izumi wondered, as both Magnagarurumon and Dynasmon noticed the shaking. My brother at least had the sense to realize that it probably wasn't a good thing and started backing off. Dynasmon however was a bit more stubborn.

"This data belongs to lord Lucemon," he declared, once again heading for the diamond.

"Because," Junpei said, "If what I read in that book is true, that laser's bouncing in there and building up strength and when it get too strong for that diamond to contain..."

I didn't need him to finish that sentence. That meant the diamond would_ explode_. And my brother was_ right next to it._

"Kouji!" I shouted. "_Kouji, get away from there_!"

It was one of those things that seems to happen in slow motion. Magnagarurumon, no doubt trying to keep Dynasmon away from that diamond, took off after Dynasmon. That was when the diamond, as Junpei had predicted, exploded.

_"Kouji!" Oh, please be alive..._ I thought. If he died, I...

_I'd never forgive myself._

I began running at the explosion. Behind me, I could hear the others calling my name. It didn't matter.

Two lights flew past me. It wasn't until two more flew right to me and went into the digivice I'd completely forgotten I was still holding that I realized that they were Junpei's and my Spirits. I looked at my digivice in horror for one moment, realizing that Kouji wasn't Mgnagarurumon anymore, then started running again.

The smoke around the place where the clock tower had fallen was once again clearing, but this time there was something glowing around this place, Aquamarine City's Digicode. Something pink suddenly swooped past me.

"Dynasmon!" Rhodoknightmon, I realized belatedly. Not that it mattered to me. What did matter was the limp body of my brother lying not too far from where the Digicode started.

"Kouji!"

Only a few more seconds and I was at my brother's side. He was battered and bruised, but as I reached a tentative hand to his chest, I could see he was still breathing.

He was alive!

I took a deep breath and scrubbed at my face to prevent the tears from leaking any further than my eyes. I had to get him out of there before anything else happened. I Spirit Evolved to Lowemon and picked Kouji up. That's when I realized that the Digicode was starting to grow. Almost as if...

...The Knights were scanning it.

I Spared a quick glance over my shoulder to see Rhodoknightmon supporting an unconscious Dynasmon with one arm, and scanning the Digicode with the other. I began to run as fast as I could without getting too rough on Kouji. I had to make it to a Trailmon track or something. They never got scanned, something that had always puzzled me even back when I was Duskmon.

"Kouichi!"

Izumi? I looked up to see Kaisergreymon, who was already holding her and the others, floating above me. With one last leap up, I managed to use my free hand to grab Kaisergreymon's hand, an instant before the land under me turned to Digicode and scanned. I heaved a huge sigh of relief and looked down at Kouji. He was still out cold. I shuddered at how close I'd come to losing him _again, _and looked back at the remains of the city. I could see the Royal Knights floating off to wherever they had come from, Rhodoknightmon cooing in a motherly fashion over Dynasmon's injuries.

"Don't worry, Dynasmon. When we get home I'm going to take such_ good _care of you! Ah, the healing love that comes from nursing a loved one back to health is so refreshing!"

"Those two are _so_ weird," Junpei said.

It didn't take Kaisergreymon too long to catch up to the Trailmon that Neemon, Bokomon, and Patamon were on. Once we got there, the others helped me lay Kouji down on one of the Trailmon's seats.

"He'll be fine," Takuya told me as the others nodded their support. "He just needs to rest a while."

"I know," I said, quietly.

"So do the Knights for that matter," Junpei remarked. "I don't think we'll be hearing anything from _them_ for a few days."

"C'mon everyone," Izumi said putting her hands on her hips. "It's hard for someone to get any rest with all of us chattering around him. Let's go see if they remembered to pack something to eat."

The others filed out, leaving me with my brother. I sighed and settled down on the floor with my back leaning against the seat. It was going to be a while before he woke up, right? Just like the time on the moon...I pushed that memory away. Kouji survived that time, he was going to survive this time. Still, that didn't stop me from worrying about him.

And thinking about my brother and his injuries was making it worse for me. In an effort to forget about Kouji's injuries for a while, I pulled the book he had given me yesterday (Had it only been _yesterday?) _Out of my pocket and began reading.

It was dark, and I was thankful the Trailmon had lights inside its' cars to read by when Kouji stirred.

"Kouichi?"

I pulled myself out of my book.

"Kouji, you...Are you feeling better?"

"Some. I feel like one big bruise. What happened? The Knights scanned the city, didn't they?"

I nodded. "That diamond blew up, it took you and Dynasmon down. Rhodoknightmon scanned the city, but since Dynasmon's injured, it could be a few days before we see them again."

Kouji cursed softly. "They beat us _again_. Every time..."

"Yeah, I know. But we're all alive. We can beat them next time."

He looked at me. "You can really be an optomist sometimes, big brother."

I grinned at him shyly. That was when the door opened and Izumi poked her head in.

"Kouichi...? I-Oh, Kouji, you're awake. Good thing I made spaghetti for_ both _of you."

She pushed herself the rest of the way into the car with a plate of pasta balanced on either hand.

"Bokomon says the Trailmon's heading towards some place called Steel Town, I figured you guys wanted to know."

"Thanks," I said taking one plate from her. Kouji was about to stand up to grab the other one, but Izumi moved faster and gently pushed him down.

"Kouji, take it easy, all right? You're still injured."

Kouji glanced at me. "Now I know how you felt the other day, Kouichi."

I chucked a bit as Izumi placed the other plate down on his lap with a roll of her eyes.

"He's feeling better, all right. I'll just go tell the others, they'll be happy to hear that."

I smiled a bit as she left, and began eating. For a minute, neither of us spoke.

"Hey, Kouichi?

I looked up again.

"I heard you back there, you were trying to tell me to get away from that jewel. I should have...I thought Dynasmon was going to get that Digicode, and scan the city. I'm sorry, I should've listened to you."

"It's not your fault, Kouji. You were doing the right thing. It just got out of hand." I stifled a snort. "In fact, it..."

"...Blew up in our faces?" Kouji rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's what I was going to say..." I paused. "But how did you know?"

"Twin thing, I guess. It just felt right."

We stared at each other. for a moment, then he grinned at me. I couldn't resist cracking that shy smile back.

"Maybe there is something to that twin connection thing after all," I said.

FIN

**Author's Notes: I'll admit, I did play things a bit fast with the laser bouncing around in the diamond and Junpei knowing what was about to happen. (Sigh) If I ever do a re-write, I'll have to think of a way around that. So that's my re-entry back into the horrors of actually writing fanfiction. I hope you all enjoyed it.**


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